Time to get a new sled.

Well, trip #2 in the sled was another disaster. I only put Andrew in the sled this time, because Aaron fell asleep as I was nursing him just before we left, so I decided it would be kinder to carry him. Andrew sat in the sled, and becuase there's this little ergonomically designed bump about 6 in down, he's usually uncomfortable, so made him sit in front of the bump, with my diaper bag behind the bump for him to lean on. Then I bundled him up in a blanket and we took off the Extra Foods.

Little did I realize that it was really cold. Although the thermometer said -15, I'm sure it must have been at least -22 or more with the wind chill. So there I am, half way to extra foods, thinking "Well, it can't get any colder. As long as we're quick and get out before it starts getting dark, we'll be fine."

We got to Extra foods about 2:30, but since the sun goes down early these days, its starts to cool off even more by 4 or 5, so I rushed through our groceries, carrying a grumpy, awake, too hot baby who was trying to roll himself backwards out of the mei tai to get away from my body heat, and a preschooler who kept protesting "You're going too fast! Too fast, mom!" because he hasn't figured out how to walk well in winter boots yet. After a rushed shopping trip, we tuck the groceries around and on top of Andrew -- milk, soy milk, cheerios, juice, fruit cocktail. I bundle Andrew and the groceries up and we start towards home.

Two older women stop their cars on the way and ask us if we need a ride, because we look so cold. Plus Andrew kicks the blanket off and I have to go back and get it (reminder to self: do not use baby's newly made blanket on the sled again in case it gets lost/damaged). So we rush home, which was great excersise for me, through the wind and cold. Aaron fell back asleep (or was just stunned into a coma by the cold, I'm not sure which) and Andrew peeked out miserably from underneath the blanket until we got home at 3. I take both boys into the house, and come back out to get the groceries only to discover . . . that I have one can of fruit cocktail in the sled. Fortunately the milk was in the driveway and the Cheerios were just down the road. Unfortuantely, the soy milk and apple juice were never recovered. I consider them casualties to the cause.

You Should Live Each Day As If. . .

A plumber was about to come and turn off the hot water. Seriously. I was so productive this morning because I knew that I had to get things done before the plumbers came to replace the hot water tank. I should always do things right when they need to be done (um, instead of writing on my blog while my supper dishes sit in the sink . . . ).

Madness! Madness!

You may well wonder where I've been lately. Well, I've been wading through the madness of having a mobile baby and a posessive preschooler. Suddenly, every time I have Andrew alone, he asks, "Why did you want another boy, mommy?" or comments about how "Aaron gets into all my stuff". Consequently, as well as doing a lot of protecting the baby from being pushed / redirected / dragged around by his brother (as well as burried under blankets, duvets, sleds and couch cushions), we have moved all Andrew's favorite imagination play toys into what will be his room once we re-arrange everything and clear out a room in the basement to be the guest room.

I have also been making little people birthday gifts. Here is one of the sets of beanbags I made for some of Andrew's local friends.

And this is Sam Lukin's robot. It is slightly less ornate than Edmund's because it is for a one year old (no choking hazards, please), but I did mail some buttons to be added for eyes at a later date.

I also made a cute little red courdoroy purse for my god daughter, Marie, but I forgot to take a picture (I'll have to get one later). I love the size and shape of it so much that I am going to have to make myself one with a longer strap. Its a perfect wallet / keys / novel or notebook and pen size.

Then there has been the snow. I bought a sled so I could trek through the snow with the boys. Our first trip was not a qualified success. It took us 40 min. to get to the library (it usually takes 15 in the stroller) because I had to readjust everyone, Aaron was laying on Andrew and "hurting his bones", Aaron was falling out, Andrew was pushing Aaron, Andrew wanted to pull the sled, the rope came loose and parts of the sidewalk had been cleared and I had to drag the sled across them. There were some points where Aaron was just in the sled. It was a very silly trip, we were 20 min late for library story time and there were some points on the way home when no one was in the sled except the library books. Ah well, we'll try again this week.

I have also been fiendishly working on baby Jeremy's quilt, which is two seams away from being ready to sandwich and quilt (hooray!). For some reason Andrew loves to drive over the pieces of this quilt every time I lay it on the floor, so its a bit wobbly because I just couldn't keep ironing the big pieces as I was putting all the blocks together, but I needed to lay it out so I put them together properly.

Then I also hosted a Chineese food night at youth group where 22 teenagers and me and another parent made stir-fry, spring rolls and fortune cookies. And I baked two cakes, one for a potluck and one for marie's birthday. and then there have been all the christmas present deliberations . . .

And Dave has been hogging all the computer time for the last few weeks, working on his latest secret mission (which I am not allowed to disclose to the public -- but ask him and he'll tell you all about it).

I have a lot of really interesting idea posts I want to write, but no breathing room to write them. All I want for Christmas is a laptop . . . sigh.

Whew!

I survived! Four days with my in-laws with no blow outs or arguments or drama and I'm still somewhat sane. Andrew is sad that his grandma and grandpa are gone, but I think Aaron is glad no one is picking him up off the floor (which was apparently too dirty for him to crawl on) and taking everything away from him and putting everything away as soon as he took it out. I am richer by 4 lbs of organic brown rice and 6 lbs or organic raisins (both of which are in my freezer) and several packages of organic grapes. Now I just have to find all my dishes and figure out what all those mysterious odds and ends wrapped in wax paper in my fridge are . . .

So much catching up to do . . .

that I don't even know where to start. I'm in that zone where I have been so busy living irl that I haven't had time to keep up with my internet commitments. So I am now about 5 events behind on my blog, and don't feel right posting about present events because I need to play catch up. So, with apologies to Sharon (who said I'd better write a good post about my birthday) here is a breif summary of what we've been up to in the last few weeks.

The second annual Jill/Edmund birthday party. Edmund and I share the same birth date. So Sharon threw a dinner for our two families the weekend after it. It was fabulous, and contained much roast beef, a delicious cake, and many small children refusing to eat a proper meal becuase they knew there was going to be cake at some point in the evening. And I gave Edmund his robot, and received some fun magazines which gave me good cause to mock and rail against the fashion industry on and off through the evening.


This is Edmund preparing to blow out our candles
This is just a funny picture of Dave and Richard that I had to post.
This is Pumpkin Day, which I think we're going to do every year because it was fun. We had the pumpkin you see above (or pumpnin, as Andrew insists on calling them) and a smaller pie pumkin on hand the week before Halloween. During the day Andrew and I baked pumpkin pie, and then that evening after supper we carved our jack-o-lantern and ate the pie. In true form, Andrew doesn't actually like pumpkin pie, but he insisted we make it. We had enough pumpkin left over for pancakes the next morning, so it was pretty good. Here is Andrew's little pie.
Halloween, of course. We had tons of dress up clothes, including a full suit of armour for Andrew, but he remember that he was a cow last year, so it was a safe choice for him.
The men at the church also built us a garage the week of halloween, and Andrew rushed around under Dave's supervision randomly banging things and dragging old pieces of our fence around the front yard. I would have got lots done around the house if Aaron hadn't had a miserable cold.

Dave also took his last motorcycle ride of the season before he put his baby away in the new garage for the winter. This is some reserve land about 30 min. north of here where he likes to bomb around. The sad thing is that I didn't get to go on it once this year. Maybe next year.

We also had an actress from Saskatoon and her husband come through town as they did a few bookings of her performance of the book of James (as in the entire book of the Bible) which was really thought provoking. And I went to a discovery toys party (probably a rant about that coming to you in the near future). And I went to a double two year old birthday party, for which I decided to make two sets of beanbags in little matching fabric bags. And Sharon and I went to Saskatoon (which is definitely another post, and sadly one for which I foolishly have no photographic evidence), and now my in-laws are here. I'll let you know how that goes when its all over. So now we're caught up. Sorry I'm lacking in my usual charming anecdotes, but I must sleep sometime.

Okay, now I feel like I can go back to my regularly scheduled posts.

Status: Nov. 11

What I've Been Doing: tending to sick kids, making birthday presents, hosting visitors, plus all the usual kids, youth group, playgroup, etc.

What I've Been Reading: Unplugged Play, Quilts and More (Winter 2007), PopCo, Lisa's emails

What I've Been Making: Robots, beanbags, Jeremy's quilt (honestly Kris, I'm still working on it), bread, supper,

What I've Been Thinking About: is ethical consumerism even possible?, how to control my temper, my in-laws upcoming visit, temperments: my own and Andrew's, introversion and extroversion, being an oddball

What's Making Me Angry: Repeated, endless requests for candy, sherbert, television, juice, chips, and more candy, Sweat shops, the deteriorating standards of North American goods, Wal Mart, people who can't just let their children relax and enjoy themselves, my son's anxiety level, my temper (circular, I know, but there you have it), my son's inability to be kind to his baby brother . . . um, okay, just my son in general.

What's Making Me Happy: watching my sons play happily together, watching Aaron crawl, making toys, laughing at Andrew's funny, wise statements, going to Saskatoon with Sharon, my birthday party, Lisa getting a laptop, late night lane swimming.

What I'm Planning: world domination, the exploration and colonisation of space and what I'm going to buy in Saskatoon tomorrow

Yes, I'm still here!

Sorry for the scanty posts! We've all had terrible colds, and Aaron will not pull all the books off the shelf if left on the floor in the study, while Andrew will demand endless Strongbad cartoons and then be really obnoxious all day. This, my friends, is a sign that I need a laptop.